A Testing Week's Training

Duration: 5 consecutive days Practical training.

To be eligible to participate, you will have had previous experience - A minimum of 50 days in total spent aboard a yacht at sea; 2500 miles logged offshore including 5 passages of over 60 nautical miles. Two of these passages must be as skipper and 2 on overnight trips.

Any one contemplating this course should have a knowledge of navigation to the level of RYA Coastal Skipper. Master Class offers this shore based theory as a separate course. Persons unsure of their level should undergo an assessment prior to the commencement of the practical course. Please contact us to arrange this.

Exam candidates must be 18 years or older, hold a current recognised First Aid certificate and a Marine Radio Operators Certificate.

For an MCA (UK’s Maritime & Coastguard Agency) Commercial endorsement on the Yachtmaster’s certificate, you also require a Sea Survival certificate (RYA/MCA Basic Sea Survival for Small Craft or YA Safety and Sea Survival are both acceptable) and completion of a Medical examination form .This form is available on request from Master Class. If your intention is to work overseas, in any maritime function, then you should complete an STCW95 course.

The RYA exam fee is paid direct to the RYA and is conducted by an independent RYA Examiner. Although the Principal of Master Class is an RYA Examiner, we cannot examine our own students. This aids the integrity of the courses and the consistent standard of sailing education which is recognised throughout the world. There will be an additional charter fee for the yacht unless the exam is on your own yacht.

All students should have an RYA logbook with their qualifying passages and personal log of experience entered.

There is a maximum of 3 pupils to 1 Instructor in this practical course.

Course content: The RYA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate of Competence is one of the highest and most respected yachting qualifications available and is recognised throughout the world. It is recognition of the holder’s knowledge and experience and can lead to a commercial qualification.

A Yachtmaster Offshore is an experienced yachtsman or woman, capable of skippering a yacht on any offshore or coastal passage anywhere in the world, up to the point where celestial navigation is required. They must have the ability to do this without recourse to electronic navigation equipment such as GPS and must be capable of entering any port anywhere in the world, given sufficient navigational information and depth of water, for the first time at night.

This Yachtmaster preparation is designed as a practical refresher course for experienced sailors and will cover all skills likely to be examined. Typically, students join the course on Monday morning, meet the crew and are briefed on all aspects of the yacht and its equipment. After some intensive boat handling under power exercises the yacht will leave Lake Macquarie and will not return until the following Friday. During the course each student will, in turn, take command of the vessel on short passages by day and night as the instructor coaches each on the various disciplines required to skipper the boat successfully (and pass the exam).

Specific intensive exercises are undertaken giving students the opportunity to practice for the exam. These include pilotage exercises by day and night, "blind" navigation to simulate restricted visibility, finding an un-lit buoy in the dark, boat handling both under power and sail and man overboard procedures. Early in the week each student is given an honest appraisal of their chances of success in the exam and any weaknesses that may have been highlighted will be addressed.

The course is an extremely intensive one with much of the training taking place after dark. Students take the yacht to a different harbour or anchorage each night and whilst this is not designed as a theory course, there is time to recap on subjects such as weather, tides and collision regulations. Students should however have a sound knowledge of these before the course particularly the regulations for lights, shapes and sounds. Please note these will be examined!

The RYA distinguishes itself from its competitors by ensuring that a consistent exam standard is maintained across the world. This is achieved by:

• Rigorous training and careful selection of examiners - Examiners are hand picked yachtsmen or women who have usually had extensive instructional and commercial experience. Each examiner must undergo a selection and training course and their appointment as an examiner will be reviewed every five years by means of a practical re-assessment.

• Independence - RYA examiners are effectively “outside assessors”. An examiner may not examine a candidate that he has taught, examined previously, or is a personal friend. Examiners are appointed and paid by the RYA.

• Quality Assurance measures - An independent company is commissioned by the RYA to conduct QA, where candidates are telephoned and asked a series of questions about their training and examination. This information is sent to the MCA as part of the RYA’s commitment to the audit process.

Syllabus - revision of the following topics
Collision regulations	Ability as Skipper
Safety aspects	Preparation for sea
Boat handling & berthing	Preparation for adverse weather
Person overboard	Passage planning & Passage Making
Anchoring Towing	Emergency and distress situations
Gear failure	Pilotage & Port entries
GPS

Inclusion : Meals on board, Insurance, Safety Equipment, Wet weather gear and Course Completion Certificate

Cost: $2000.00 per person for 5 day offshore

An RYA/YA Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate with an STCW95 certificate will enable you to be recognised as a Coxswain by NSW Maritime. This means that by having your Yachtmaster certificate, you can operate a commercial vessel taking paying passengers.

For further details, visit  http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/cv/yachtmaster.html

Master Class offers the best possible preparation for a Yachtmaster exam as you have been on board the yacht, with the same crew, for 5 days and should be feeling relaxed and confident. Our Instructors will do their best to make every student feel comfortable whilst recognising some of the stress of the course.

Register: Course Registration